The Milwaukee Bucks were favored over the Orlando Magic in Tuesday's NBA Cup matchup.
With Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner both injured, the Magic were down two of their best players, giving a healthy Milwaukee team an edge on paper. The Magic didn't pay much attention to the odds, as they put up a great fight against this Bucks squad. A prominent reason they were able to make this game competitive was due to their incredibly relentless pursuit of rebounds on the offensive glass.
The Magic dominated the Milwaukee Bucks in offensive rebounding
Orlando grabbed an eye-popping 15 offensive rebounds in this contest. Goga Bitadze hauled in five of them, while Jalen Suggs and Wendell Carter Jr. grabbed three apiece to lead the charge. Usually, when a team grabs 15 offensive rebounds, they dominate in second-chance points, but the Bucks did a rather good job limiting them in that regard, holding Orlando to just 14 for the entire game.
The Bucks, who only grabbed five offensive rebounds, were outworked by Orlando in this regard, which has been a problem in spots this season. Opposing players - guards, forwards, bigs, whoever - often wrack up offensive rebounds due to a lack of urgency and boxing out on the glass, which was on display in this one.
This is something Milwaukee simply must clean up moving forward. While the Magic didn't capitalize, other teams certainly will if the Bucks are giving up this many second chances. It all starts with being more active and boxing out with more purpose. This should be a key talking point for the Bucks in the next few film sessions.
Perhaps one reason why the Bucks struggled to keep Orlando off the glass was that starting guard Andre Jackson Jr. logged just eight minutes. While he certainly has his flaws, Jackson is one of the most active Bucks on the boards most nights, and his absence was on display in this one. Doc Rivers decided to roll with AJ Green over Jackson in this one, continuing the guard's breakout campaign.
Despite the poor showing in this regard, the Milwaukee Bucks continued their NBA Cup journey with a 114-109 victory.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way with 37 points, while Damian Lillard turned up in the final stretch to keep Milwaukee afloat. Lillard scored 15 points in the last quarter en route to a fantastic 28-point, nine-assist night. Bobby Portis continued his recent resurgence with 22 points and 10 boards off of the bench to give the team a significant boost.
Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.